Vale S A : Environmental Project In Canada Helps Rare Endangered Species of Butterfly
August 26, 2020 at 02:46 pm EDT
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8/25/2020
Vale's Environmental Project In Canada Helps Rare Endangered Species of Butterfly
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Becoming an increasingly sustainable company is one of the goals of its operations worldwide.
In Canada, the results of more than 10 years of reforestation surrounding the Sudbury basin are already being seen. Thanks to the planting and growing of milkweed in the region, a rare endangered species of butterfly has reappeared.
The monarch butterfly populations have been reduced by more than 80% in the past 25 years due to the loss of their natural habitat.
At the caterpillar stage, they only eat milkweed, which makes them a rare species on the planet. If milkweed is not found, the species migrates to areas where this plant is present. In Canada, after more than a century of mining and logging, milkweed was gone.
'We saw an opportunity for Vale to help this population of butterflies,' explained Vale's project engineer, Quentin Smith. 'The monarch butterflies are important pollinators. If we manage to bring this species back to this region, we will be able to help the ecosystem as a whole.'
Reforestation
Since 2007, Vale has reforested more than 150 acres. Canada's environmental team has established effective planting techniques in the region affected by the mining activity. Bulldozers are used to draw curves on the slopes and, thus, allow plant growth and water drainage. A type of clay is applied to the surface and sprayed with hydro-seeds to cover the grass; it allows the planting of several seedlings and trees.
Wild flowers and milkweeds are some examples of the seeds included in the mix to improve the biodiversity and beauty of the region. Some bee colonies are also placed in the region to act as natural pollinators.
Vale grows almost 500 plants of this type per year. Some are donated to schools that create butterfly gardens and the rest are planted in areas that are visible to the local community.
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Vale SA published this content on 25 August 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 26 August 2020 18:46:02 UTC
Vale S.A. is one of the world's leading metallurgy and mining groups. Revenues break down by family of products as follows:
- ferrous minerals and metals (80,2%): ferrous minerals (85.1% of revenues; 254 Mt sold in 2020), ferrous mineral granules (13.2%; 31.2 Mt), iron alloys and manganese (0.7%; 1.4 Mt), and other (1%);
- non-ferrous minerals and metals (17.9%): nickel, precious metals, and cobalt (69.7% of revenues; 211 Kt of nickel sold) and copper (30.3%; 247 Kt);
- coal (1.2%): metallurgical coal (2.9 Mt sold) and thermal coal (3 Mt);
- other (0.7%).
Revenues are distributed geographically as follows: Brazil (7.3%), the United States (2.6%), Americas (1.5%), China (57.8%), Japan (5.5%), Asia (8.2%), Europe (13.3%) and Middle East/Africa/Oceania (3.8%).